Chapter 5: So Hungry
After the man entered, he surveyed the empty room and bellowed, “Where is everyone?”
He had been staking out this household for several days; finally, when the man stepped out, he seized his chance and slipped inside.
The man rummaged through drawers and cabinets, creating quite a commotion, all while muttering curses under his breath.
“Damn it! There’s not even a scrap of food left!”
Qiaoqiao had assumed he would leave if he couldn’t find food, but she never expected the man to persist.
“If there’s no food, there’s surely a woman around!” He let out a grating laugh. “Come out! I see you!”
Qiaoqiao was terrified, trembling uncontrollably, yet she forced herself to remain still.
The man searched room by room; the house wasn’t large, and soon he had turned it completely upside down.
“Could she be on the balcony? Come out!” The man grew increasingly irritable, striding heavily toward the balcony.
Standing on the balcony, the man frowned as he gazed at its emptiness.
“How could there possibly be no one here?”
Qiaoqiao heard the footsteps fading into the distance, but before she could even exhale in relief, she looked up to see the man returning.
Both of them were startled by each other.
The man cursed loudly in shock, “Damn it, is that guy out of his mind? Keeping a zombie in his house!”
The man had seen Qiaoqiao twice before.
The first time, she was carried on Lu Mie’s back, her face buried in the hollow of his neck; the second time was just earlier, when she was airing out her quilt. Qiaoqiao hid so quickly that he only caught a fleeting glimpse of her dark eyes and pale, greenish complexion.
The man had originally assumed she was simply emaciated from hunger, never expecting her to be a zombie.
But since Qiaoqiao was so incredibly small and frail, the man was only startled at first by her rotting face; after that initial shock, he felt no fear.
Summoning her courage, Qiaoqiao flashed him a grin, revealing a pair of adorable little fangs.
The man let out a derisive snort, then pulled a cleaver from behind his back.
“You’ve ruined me like this; I’m going to slaughter you first!”
Qiaoqiao screamed in terror, clumsily dodging, yet she couldn’t avoid taking several cuts from the man’s blade.
Zombies are dull to pain, but that doesn’t mean they don’t feel it.
The man wasn’t in a hurry to kill her; instead, he seemed intent on venting all his recent frustrations upon Qiaoqiao.
After slashing Qiaoqiao a few times, the man prepared to finish her off and leave, but unexpectedly, the hilt of his knife suddenly became scorching hot.
The next moment, Lu Mie burst through the doorway.
He had clearly been running in a hurry; beads of cold sweat dotted his temples, and his damp bangs clung to his forehead. Beneath them, his eyes were as cold as ice.
Seeing him return, Qiaoqiao instinctively moved closer to his side.
The man’s cleaver clattered to the floor. His expression shifted unpredictably as he stared at Lu Mie’s sudden appearance, his gaze freezing on the pile of food left by the entrance.
A smile instantly spread across his face. “Brother, you’re finally back! A zombie broke into your place; I was just about to take her out for you!”
Qiaoqiao trembled from head to toe in sheer terror.
Lu Mie lifted her into his arms, settled her onto the sofa, and soothingly patted her head before turning his gaze toward the man.
The man standing before him was tall, yet his complexion was sallow, suggesting he hadn’t had a full meal in ages. But that was no excuse for breaking in, stealing, or harming Qiaoqiao.
The man, lacking any sense of discernment, continued to praise him: “I noticed that empty bag you left in the living room—it’s from the supermarket in our residential compound, right? Several zombies were wandering around there before. I never expected you’d manage to snatch food from inside. You’re quite capable!”
He dared not confront those few zombies, yet he harmed Qiaoqiao, who possessed no strength to defend herself.
Some people are truly worse than zombies.
Lu Mie cut him off, his voice cold and heavy: “Are you finished?”
The man’s words were abruptly silenced; his gaze darted uneasily toward Lu Mie, who was soothing Qiaoqiao.
Knowing he couldn’t bluff his way out, he decided to go all in. “You’re keeping a zombie in your house! You’d better give me the food, or I’ll go outside right now and tell everyone! You should know by now—search and rescue teams have already entered Su City!”
Hearing this, Lu Mie merely let out a faint, indifferent laugh: “It’s the apocalypse.”
“Yes! The apocalypse is here! Instead of standing together with us, you’re actually keeping a zombie!”
Lu Mie had no desire to waste words on him. He reached out and covered Qiaoqiao’s eyes.
Darkness swallowed Qiaoqiao’s vision. She blinked in confusion, sensing only a searing force rush past her face.
Her eyelashes were long; as she blinked, they brushed against his rough palm. Lu Mie’s hand faltered for a moment before he finally lifted it from her eyes.
Qiaoqiao looked at the man, but saw nothing—only a pile of black ash on the ground.
Slowly, Qiaoqiao wondered what had just happened, her body still trembling slightly.
Lu Mie knew she was truly terrified.
After a moment’s thought, he placed his hands gently on her shoulders and said in a low voice, “There won’t be a next time, Qiaoqiao. This was my oversight, and I apologize.”
He knew someone had been watching this place, but venturing out for food had been unavoidable. Lu Mie had tried to minimize his time away, yet trouble had found them anyway.
It seemed that next time he went out, he would have to take her along, even if it promised to be somewhat troublesome.
The fingertips of Lu Mie’s other hand still retained the heat of flames. Qiaoqiao, terrified of fire, shrank back toward the interior of the sofa, her body trembling. Yet, afraid of provoking Lu Mie’s anger, she moved with extreme caution.
Suddenly, Lu Mie felt a heavy blockage tighten in his heart.
“Qiaoqiao, let me bandage you up first,” he said, trying to distract her.
Although zombies have dulled pain receptors and tenacious vitality, Qiaoqiao had truly lost a lot of blood.
He reached out to examine her wound, but this time Qiaoqiao reacted strongly. After struggling, she still feared he might be angry and watched him with apprehension.
Lu Mie wasn’t angry at all; he just felt a pang of heartache for the little zombie, Qiaoqiao, who had been living with him for several days.
Lu Mie withdrew his hand and said, “I’ll tidy up first. You stay calm for now; I’ll come back shortly to dress your wounds.”
As he spoke, Lu Mie grabbed a broom, swept the pile of ash on the floor into a dustpan, placed the food he’d brought back into the kitchen, and then went to check if the door could be repaired.
The old, neglected door wasn’t easy to fix. Lu Mie spent nearly half an hour working on it, making it even sturdier than before.
After cleaning the house, Lu Mie poured water into the pot, preparing to boil some.
The gas had long run out, but it didn’t matter; a flicker of red flame appeared in his hand as he leisurely heated the pot of water.
When he went out earlier that day, he discovered he had awakened his fire ability ahead of schedule—an unexpected delight.
But Qiaoqiao seemed terribly afraid of fire.
Only after the heat faded from his palm did Lu Mie go knock on Qiaoqiao’s door.
Her bedroom door wasn’t locked; when Lu Mie knocked and Qiaoqiao didn’t answer, he simply pushed it open.
Qiaoqiao was huddled in the dim corner, sobbing softly.
It was the first time Lu Mie had ever seen a zombie shed tears.
He walked over.
When Qiaoqiao saw him, her tears flowed even more fiercely.
Lu Mie gently stroked her jet-black hair and asked, “Is Qiaoqiao still angry?”
Qiaoqiao whimpered, unable to form any words.
He wiped away her tears and said, “I’ll take you to the restroom to wash the blood off your body and then bandage your wounds.”
Qiaoqiao clumsily shied away from his outstretched hand.
Lu Mie’s hand froze in mid-air for a few seconds before he casually withdrew it.
Qiaoqiao sat on the ground; he shifted from a crouch to sit beside her.
“Qiaoqiao,” Lu Mie called her name and asked, “Are you hungry?”
Qiaoqiao nodded.
Lu Mie pointed to his own neck and conceded, “Then I’ll let you bite me. Just obey me quietly and come with me to have your wound dressed. Don’t resist, and don’t be afraid; I won’t hurt you.”
Qiaoqiao’s attention was completely captured by the first half of Lu Mie’s sentence; hearing that her living food reserve had given her permission to bite him, she couldn’t help but swallow hard.
It had been quite some time since she last tasted the flavor of fresh blood.
Lu Mie leaned forward, exposing his neck to Qiaoqiao.
Hearing that she could drink blood, Qiaoqiao stopped crying.
She pushed herself up, crawled onto Lu Mie’s body, then wrapped her arms around his neck and tilted her small head. With familiar ruthlessness, she sank her teeth into Lu Mie’s neck.
Lu Mie allowed her actions; this pain meant little to him. Seeing Qiaoqiao so excited that she nearly fell off him, he even reached out to steady her.
Qiaoqiao hadn’t gone hungry these past few days; her appetite wasn’t large to begin with. By the time the wound on Lu Mie’s neck stopped bleeding on its own, she was nearly full.
Yet still craving more, she leaned over him and licked clean the small traces of blood that had seeped around his neck.
Lu Mie pulled her away, saying in a calm voice, “That’s enough.”
Qiaoqiao blinked her eyes, nodded obediently, and then climbed off of him.
Lu Mie also stood up. He was more than a head taller than Qiaoqiao; she only reached his shoulder. The little zombie still looked so frail—he would have to feed her more from now on.
“Go get a set of clothes from the wardrobe,” Lu Mie said.
Full and obedient, Qiaoqiao no longer feared him much. She shuffled slowly to the wardrobe and picked out a clean set of clothes.
Seeing Lu Mie walk toward the bathroom, Qiaoqiao slowly followed behind him.
The hot water, boiled earlier, had cooled down slightly. Lu Mie tested the temperature with his hand, then beckoned to Qiaoqiao.
At that moment, Qiaoqiao hadn’t yet realized Lu Mie’s intentions. It was only when she approached and he reached out to remove her clothes that her expression changed abruptly; she swiftly slapped his hand away.
Her nails were untrimmed, and due to the force of her strike, she left a bleeding scratch on the back of Lu Mie’s hand.
Lu Mie: “…”
Good, now there is something even more important to attend to.
Lu Mie walked out of the bathroom with an expressionless face. Qiaoqiao was just about to slip back into her room, but she hadn’t expected him to return so quickly, holding a pair of sharp, gleaming scissors in his hand.
Qiaoqiao looked at him, bewildered.
Lu Mie took her hand and said, “Don’t move.”
With a piercing scream from Qiaoqiao, Lu Mie ruthlessly clipped all of her nails.
Aside from her preference for dim environments, Qiaoqiao drew comfort from three things: her jacket, her nails, and her small fangs.
A few days ago, Lu Mie had tossed aside her jacket, forbidding her to wear it; today, he had cut her nails. So… did that mean next he would pull out her little fangs?
Qiaoqiao felt utterly terrified. She didn’t want her fangs pulled; it would hurt so much.
“It’s just trimming your nails, not cutting off your head. Why the face?” Seeing Qiaoqiao stare at him blankly with a wronged expression, Lu Mie found it amusing and teased her.
Did he actually intend to cut off her head?
Qiaoqiao instinctively tried to bolt, but Lu Mie, well-practiced in handling her, grabbed her by the collar and yanked her back. “I need to apply medicine,” he said.
Qiaoqiao began to struggle.
“You just promised me, didn’t you? You bit me, so now you have to do as I say.” He spoke while pinning Qiaoqiao down.
Qiaoqiao’s body was covered in wounds. Last time, when she resisted, Lu Mie hadn’t forced her; he had only tended to the exposed injuries. But this time was different. New wounds layered over old ones. The little zombie’s body, riddled with rotting flesh, bore a crisscrossing map of cuts and scars, including the fresh gashes inflicted today by that man’s knife. Blood seeped from the injuries, a sight both gruesome and heartbreaking.
Lu Mie couldn’t simply stand by and watch. After all, he had spent several days alongside Qiaoqiao. So, regardless of her willingness, he was determined to treat her wounds properly.